THE EMMAUS WALK PRESENTS:

"Come Let Us Reason Together,"

"A Personal Account of Messianic Witnessing,"

By Duane L. Smith

I remember the time I shared Christ with a sweet, elderly Jewish Lady. I happened to notice that she was carrying with her an English translation of the the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh (the Christian's Old Testament).

I explained to her that the modern Hebrew text was based on what is known as the Masoretic, and was written in response to the LXX (the Greek Old Testament, which was translated about 250 B.C. and came to be the Bible of the 1st Century Christians). I went on to say that I was glad that the Masoretic text was written down, because it helped to preserve the Hebrew language and culture to this very day.

I apologized to her for my limited knowledge of Hebrew, and I began to speak to her about Adoni-El'chim (the Lord God) and of His Son Jeshua, who I believed was and is the Jewish Messiah.

At this point, she stopped me and commented that she had never met a Gentile before that spoke with such respect and compassion. I thanked her and responded, "There is no room in my heart for anti-Semitism, for my Lord and Savior is a Jew."

Then I opened up my Bible and began sharing with her Psalm 22, which graphically describes a crucified man at the very least 200 years before crucifixion was known or was commonly practiced within a Jewish province.

Now let us take a closer look at some of the prophetic verses that comprise Psalm 22.

These verses of scripture made quite an impact on my new Jewish friend, though she was still very reluctant to receive Jeshua (Jesus) into her life. She stated that she was extremely interested to know more, however. It seemed to me as though she still had a veil over her heart (see II Corinthians 3:13-16).

I then turned to Isaiah 53 which describes in great detail the sacrificial work of Atonement made by the Suffering Jewish Messiah Himself.

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?...fulfilled by Jesus Christ, John 12:38

"...He hath no form nor comliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."....fulfilled in Jesus Christ, John 1:46, John 7:52, Matthew 13:55-57

"He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.".....fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Matthew 27:30 and 31; Luke 18:31-33, Luke 23:18, Hebrews 4:15, John 1:10 and 11

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed."....fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Romans 4:25, I Corinthians 15:3 and 4, I Peter 2:24

"...the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.".....fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Galatians 3:13, I Peter 3:18, Hebrews 9:28, Ephesians 5:2

"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."...fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Matthew 26:63, Matthew 27:12-14, Mark 14:61, Mark 15:5, Luke 23:9, John 19:9

"...He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was He stricken."....John 10:11, Romans 5:6, I Corinthians 15:3, II Corinthians 5:21

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief, when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin...".....fulfilled by Jesus Christ, John 1:29, Acts 2:24, II Corinthians 5:21.

He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities."....fulfilled by Jesus Christ, I John 2:1, Acts 13:38 and 39, Romans 5:15-18

"....He hath poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."...fulfilled by Jesus Christ, Colossians 2:15, Romans 3:25, Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:28, Luke 22:37, II Corinthians 5:21, Luke 23:34

While Psalm 22 clearly states the Mode of sacrificial Atonement, Isaiah 53 expounds on the Meaning of the Messiah's Vicarious Atonement and His Substitutionary Propitiation.

I am told there are more than 200 Messianic prophecies fulfilled in the Person and Work of Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord, leaving approximately 300 yet to be fulfilled. The chances that 200-plus prophecies could be fulfilled by any one person in history, apart from Jesus, is for all purposes nill!

My Jewish friend immediately realized the full implication of these two powerful passages of scripture that I shared.

Yet she still wavered and wrestled with her acceptance of Yeshua (Jesus) as her Messiah, because she stated that in so doing she would have to give up her Jewish faith and culture.

I adamantly assured her that this was not the case at all. Her decision for Yeshua as Messiah would only confirm, complete, and complement her faith.

I explained further that there existed Messianic Jews, and that it was my hope and prayer that she would seek them out and join their fellowship.

Then I witnessed the greatest of all miracles. It was as though I could see the "scales" fall from her eyes, and that the veil from her heart was rent, as she prayed with me the "Sinner's Prayer." Thus, she accepted the Person and sacrifice of her Messiah, Yeshua, into her heart and life--praise the Lord!

What joy filled my heart as I realized the great honor and privilege bestowed on me that I was able to share the Messiah (Christ) with one of the Lord's own people! Blessed be His Name! Amen!